Monday Made It

Happy Monday Night!

I'm happy to be linking up once again for another MMI party!  You can check out the fabulous things other bloggers have made by clicking here!  Sad news, MMI linky is now going to a monthly linky on the 2nd Monday of each month. :(  I am always so inspired by other bloggers and their creations.  In fact, some of my MMI's came from last week's blog post from Kris over at the poole pages.  You should check out everything she's got going on!

Now on with my MMI completed projects.

Made it #1:

These are pencil tags to assist students when you are not working in a small group.  They should alleviate small group chatter while waiting on me to help them.  It's sort of like a deli counter grab a number and wait to be helped idea.  I got the idea from Kris atthe poole pages who found it on all students can shine.  I'm SO EXCITED to use these this year!  What a fabulous idea and it's FREE! :))

Made it #2:

This is my parent handbook for this year.  The idea came from Pinterest and I just added what I needed for my class.  I don't have the original pin with the picture, but I've seen several versions of this and just made my own to go with my classroom theme.  I made the flip book with the number of tabs to cover everything I idea wanted to parents to know.  THEN, I typed up each section, cut/pasted it to the corresponding tab.  The final step will be to run on colored paper when I go back to school on Monday.  Another simple, yet genius idea.

Made it #3:

This is a fabulous freebie from lady bugs teacher files.  Have you checked out her site?  It's fabulous!  In fact, I have yet to find a blog that isn't fantastic!!  I can't wait to see if we can keep up with pencils this year.  Last year was challenging and if I didn't know better I would have bet everything I had on my kiddos eating the pencils!  I've never gone through so many pencils and I hope this is the solution to my frustrations!  

Made it #4:

These 2 clip boards are instead of having a cork board to house teaching "stuff".  You can't see it very well, but each clip is labeled.  The top one is for those important papers you get in your mail box at school that you know you need to hold onto, but not sure where to file them.  The second board is for my conference calender for CAFE (using CRAFT, but same thing).  I'm so excited to have these hanging in the classroom!


 Made it #5:

This picture is what I've decided to do for my student birthdays.  It was inspired by this idea on Pinterest.  I used the Dr. Seuss fonts, frames by 3am teacher, card stock I already had at the house, and gum from Target.  I will put all of these in a jar and create a fun label to match the cards.  I can't wait!  

 Made it #6:

This is my tissue paper wreath for the house!  It matches my house and I think it's fabulous...my husband, not so much!  He says it looks like a pinata and candy should come out of it!! I may make it smaller...I'm marinating on it for a few days. :)

 Made it #7:

These task cards are a fabulous freebie from teaching with a mountain view to introduce a task card rotation game called Scoot.  We do the student rotation of task cards before a unit test, but this is a fabulous way to teach your expectations of student behavior.  

Whew!  I've been busy!  I still have so much more to do before officially returning to work on Monday!  I'm going up to visit my classroom and arrange desks this Thursday, but that's it until Monday.  Happy Back to School!  Don't forget to link up on the 2nd Monday of each month for more fantastic ideas!

Monday Made It...I'm on a role!!

Happy Monday Ya'll!  Yes, I did it AGAIN and created another something for the fantastic Monday Made It linky party over at 4th Grade Frolics.  You need to go over and check out the creativeness from awesome bloggers!

Now on with sharing my creation....

I actually created this about 2 weeks ago; however, I had to wait on Vistaprint to make and ship me my newest lovelies.  Vistaprint did the work.

The Lorax stamp is actually purple ink, but looks blue.

These two stamps are a MUST have for me in the classroom.  Last year I vowed I would NEVER EVER again get hand cramps from signing off on the countless beginning of year forms or receipts for money collected.  I also vowed to NEVER EVER again write the word 'LATE' on student work.  Besides, my experience has shown me that parents prefer to know how late something was and often times they believe the child over the teacher!  My stamps have made me one happy teacher and I can't wait to use them!  Vistaprint is definitely expensive, but if you sit back and wait for a 50% deal like I did it's worth it to get your creative juices flowing.  I paid a total of $26 for shipping and stamps.  Vistaprint is like The Loft and they are ALWAYS having some sort of sale and you should NEVER pay full price at either place!  Ok, so I'm done with my preaching!  I look forward to the wonderful comments I get each week from all of you amazing blog followers.  What stamps do you have in your classroom that are a 'must have'?

  

Monday Made It and a Freebie!

Happy Monday ya'll!  I've linked up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for my first Monday Made It!  I've been so busy creating, throwing away, re-creating, and finessing my latest Pinterest project for the Monday Made It Linky Party.  I pinned a book suggestion tree idea on Pinterest at the beginning of the summer and couldn't figure out how I wanted to put my spin on it for the classroom UNTIL the middle of last week.  You can view the original idea here.  I simply loved the idea, but it wasn't going to fit my Dr. Suess/Technology themed classroom.  I also couldn't find a fake stick to spray paint.  The sticks I found in my yard were just too brittle to use.  I did try and even bought yellow spray paint to spray on the stick.  Mid spray painting, I imagined some of my future kiddos making poor choices and snapping the limbs off the tree!  If this happened I would have to start all over..."Aint NOBODY got time for that!!" (shout out to Sweet Brown...from Oklahoma like I am).  

Extremely frustrated and wanting to use the idea, I stumbled across yet another fabulous pin you can read about here.  I LOVE the QR code twist.  I was also inspired  by this pin you can check out here for the Truffula Tress. So, after several weeks of brainstorming as well as trial and error I bring to the table my latest classroom project!

Book Suggestion Truffula Tree

Close up of what is written on chalk trim

The chalk says, "Take a Look!  We suggest these books!"

QR code Book Trailer Example

I'm loving my book suggestion tree that incorporates both themes so seamlessly!  Thanks so much to the listed bloggers for the inspiration to create something new and fun for my classroom.  If you would like to see how to quickly make voice QR codes for anything, check out this awesome resource here.  I made tons of these signs and taped them to craft sticks.  There will be a basket set up at the table with the extra signs, tape, and wet erase markers for student use.  Students will write with wet erase markers the book title, author, and reviewer.  They will then create a book suggestion voice QR code with our iPads and classroom computers.  If you would like a copy of the sign template you can get yours here

If you're interested in creating something similar for you classroom you will need the following materials:

1.  Large ceramic pot
2.  8 sheets of tissue paper
3.  Floral wire
4.  Easter grass or some other filler
5.  Floral foam block to put trunk of tree in
6.  Acrylic Paint
7.  Chalk Board paint
8.  Paint brush
9.  Scissors
10.  Yellow duct tape
11.  Pipe insulator (98 cents each at Lowes-this is just a small piece of it)
12.  Chalk
13.  Hot glue
14.  Printer if choosing to use the printable and colored cardstock
15.  Lamination (if wanting to laminate)
16.  Craft sticks
17.  Packing Tape (clear)

That's enough for now!  Thanks so much for checking out my newest completed project.    Have a fantastic week!